Shoe of special construction



Apnl 22, 1947. R. D' BOWEN 2,419,479

SHOE 0F SPECIAL CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 18, 1945 2 sheets-sneer 1 HT Toms/Ey.

`April 22, 1947. R, D, B'QWEN 2,419,479

SHOE OF SPECIAL CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 18, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

,RAE/WD. omY/E/v Patented Apr. 22, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,Y I 1 2,419,479 i A sHoE F SPECIAL coNs'rRUo'rioN 'Ray Dix Bowen, Los Angeles, Calif.

`Application January 18, 1945, Serial No. 573,323

1 claim.

My invention relates to shoes of special construction. This special construction relates to insertsin between the soles of the shoes which become standard parts of the shoes as commonly made from standard patterns.

The shoes made with this invention and sold to the public will have the ordinary common forms and ywill not necessarily be distinguishable from other shoes as commonly purchased.

The manufacturer who uses this invention may make his shoes onconventional lasts and patterns, and when any special shapes are required in the soles of shoes, in relation to fitting the soles in any manner in relation to the meta'tarsal arch or other configuration in thesoles to fit special persons feet, that change in vconguration can be made in any shoe put out with my invention, without adding to or removing anything from the sole surface of'the'shoe to bring about a ttingy desired in relation to the metatar'sal arch and its surrounding areas.

An objectof `the invention is to furnish convention'ally manufactured shoes which will' have in their soles the means whereby the inner surface'of the sole in contact with the foot of the wearer may be embossed and moulded to change the inner shape of the inner surface of the innersole to fit the foot without adding thereto or taking away any part of the shoe in adjusting the inner surface of the innersole to properly support the varying shapes of the feet of the wearers.

In accomplishing the results desired as above indicated, I provide an insert of suitable material which may be metal or a composition of material,

which will retain its shape under any pressurey which may be exercised by the wearer of a shoe in which this insert is placed in between the innersole and the outersole of shoes made in accordance with this invention.

This insert is made in a variety of sizes and shapes as may be decided upon by the manufacturer of the shoes.

The soles of the shoes in which this invention may be used may be composed of any number of plies of sole materials as any type of shoe may require. However, the insert of this invention will at all times be covered by an inner surface sole cover against which the wearers feet contact.

Reference will be had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the bottom of the innersole of a shoe on which is mounted the insert of this invention.

2 'Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section on line 2 2 vof Figure 1. Figure 3 is a similar section to that of Figure 2 showing a sole of three ply character in which the insert is located.

Figure 4 is a transverse section of what might be a shoe in which a foot is located on line 4'-44 of Figure 2. v

Figure 5 is a cross section on fa largerscale than that of Figure 1 on a line indicated as B--B of Figure 1. f

Figure 6 and Figure 7 are similar views to that of Figure 5 and vary from each other as tothe inner surface of the sole of the shoe after .the insert of this invention has been embossed to a given adjustment. 1

Figure 8 is a perspective view'of Vone'of the inserts which is a part of this invention.

Figures 9, 10 and 11 are sections on linesA-'A which are longitudinal of the shoes and they Vary in the locations of the embossed portions of the insert of this invention. k

The manufacturer vwho uses this invention will employ insert plates when moulded to any desired form that they will retain that form under any pressure exerted by the foot of a wearer.

He will have diierent sizes and shapes of these inserts for the different types of shoes which he will manufacture. The term suitable as used herein is for describing any material found suitable for making the inserts of this invention.

After the inserts have been prepared he places them in position on the inner side of the innersole of the shoe, as is indicated by M in Figures 1 and 2, wherein the insert M is aligned in parallel relationship to the innersole and outersole of the shoe, and extending over any suitable area desired to be covered under the inside sole of the shoe, which is best observed by Figure 4 in which 2 indicates the innersole of the shoe and 3 the outersole of the shoe.

In Figure 4, F indicates an outline of the foot of the wear and Fl indicates the base of what is shown as F in Figures 5, 6, '7, 9, 10 and 11.

The shoes sent out by the manufacturer will have the insert M substantially parallel with the innersole and the outersole, as indicated by Figure 4, but may have the insert embossed for deiinite special shapes. y

Stores selling shoes embodying this invention may be provided with special tools with which they may deform the insert M and the soles adjacent thereto, to emboss the insert M in desired locations in relation to the requirements of the metatarsal arch of an individual on the exposed surface to produce little summits of the innersole forced up there by deformations of the insert. For illustration, by referring to Figure 5, the transverse location of a particular case, might require the summit to be as that shown by S. That same summit might appear in the longitudinal area of A--A as S2, see Figure 9, which would mean the same location on the inside of the innersole after the insert M has been embossed as shown by Figures 5 and 9.

A diierent location for the summit of the upwardly embossed insert is indicated in Figures 6 and 10, as 'I1 in Figure 6 and as TI in Figure 10. These would be the same summit and is located transversely in Figure 6, and longitudinally in Figure 10.

Passing now to Figures 7 and 11, the summit of the embossed portion is indicated as U in. Figure '7 in cross section, and as UI in Figure 11 in longitudinal section. However, each figure U and Ul, mean the same summit.

The insert M, as embossed in any of the figures shown in the drawings, retains its shape in service in the shoe. However the outersole, indicated by 3, is at against the insert M as and when the shoe is manufactured and on sale as is indicated in Figure 4, but when the embossing takes place developing the summits of the innersoles as herein described, the outersole springs upwardly in contact with the insert M', during reshaping and then springs back to normal position.

By the means herein shown and described, a person may take any shoe which has been manufactured in accordance with this invention, and with the suitable tools he has been provided with may emboss the innersole of the shoe to accommodate and fit the metatarsal arch requirements of different persons, without having to add to or take away anything outside of what the shoe contains when sold to any given person.

This avoids the use of any inserted archv supports or additional inserts of any sort in 'the shoe 4 made by any manufacturer who uses this invention.

The conventional procedure in manufacturing a shoe with a metatarsal arch support is to provide a special last with a portion of its bottom hollowed out sufficiently to accommodate a convexed portion of an innersole and its supporting element, while this invention makes possible the manufacture of a shoe, with a metatarsal arch support, on any conventional last without the expense of providing a special last.

The advantages of the latitude of adjustment of my metatarsal arch support will be apparent when the variations between the right foot and moving the last, and subsequently deforming said plate in accordance with the individual requirements of the wearer, by pressure through the sole materials. *l

RAY DIX BOWEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date v 772,027 Butterfield Oct. 11, 1904 1,766,479 Bartels June 24, 1930 1,538,040 Heitzmann May 19, 1925 1,710,936 May Q Apr. 30, 1929 1,872,325 Osborne Aug. 16, 1932 

